


the space between the stars

by Foxycasbones



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Comedy, F/F, Happy Ending, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, I have not finished the show!!!, Teachers, slowburn, they are all highschool teachers okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25769557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foxycasbones/pseuds/Foxycasbones
Summary: Emily Prentiss is the new French teacher at Hoover High School. The one thing she doesn't need is romance in her life. However, on her first day, Emily meets Jennifer Jareau, a quick-witted and flirty English teacher and the woman becomes a fixture in Emily's life in no time. Can Emily resist JJ and stick to the one rule she had set for herself? Never date a colleague.
Relationships: Elle Greenaway/Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 28
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, after writing my previous Jemily fic (yes, this is a plug!) I thought that it would be a long while before I started another one. Yet, here I am again with a new fic. 
> 
> I will be updating at least once a week, hopefully twice a week. 
> 
> Just a note: I have not finished the show, so I'm sorry if your favourite character is missing.
> 
> Important: I am not an American citizen and I'm based in Europe. The American school system is so messed up and I'm basing this on my limited knowledge of it. To add a little bit of context to the story, the characters primarily teach 12 to 16 year olds. So, I'm apologizing in advance for any mistakes :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Chapter 1  
So, this was it. Emily sighed and entered the fancy-looking school building, feeling that traditional combination of anticipation and nerves which, she felt at every start of the school year. This year was also different from others, as this was the first day at his new job, having left her tenure position after 5 years of hard work.

New city. New school. New Emily.

Emily exhaled the apparent breath she was holding and entered the dragon’s den. The school had the pretty average high school look, the walls were lined with lockers and the pastel-colored linoleum floors and the neutral colors on the walls decorated with the occasional student’s poorly executed attempt at art.

Emily had visited the school twice before, during her interview and at the first orientation, but that had been all before the summer break, so of course she’d forgotten the unnecessarily complicated layout of the building. The halls all looked the same, so Emily opted for the tried and tested method of just going for a random hall and hoping for the best.

The school was still pretty much deserted, a janitor smiled at her and this lost looking student was sulking in the corner, but besides that she didn’t see anyone. Today wasn’t an official school day, as it was the welcome back to hell day for the teachers, also known as her having to stand around awkwardly as everyone was excitedly catching up with each other. Usually, she didn’t mind these types of socials, but it all felt so alien to her, as she had been forced out of her comfort zone after so many years.

After 10 minutes of walking around and still being hopelessly lost Emily decided to suck it up and ask the first human being she saw for directions, but no one seemed to show up and save her.

Until, of course, a voice behind Emily startled her out of her nervous wandering and asked ‘Can I help you?’ Emily quickly turned around to see an attractive woman standing there with a cup of coffee in her hand and three binders in the other.

‘Yes, I am looking for the teacher’s lounge.’ Emily answered. 

The stranger gave her a sympathetic smile and said ‘Oh, you must be new then! I would shake your hand, but as you can see my hands are otherwise occupied, but my name is Jennifer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ. I teach English. Walk with me. I will show you the way.’

‘Emily Prentiss. I’m the new French teacher. Could I take some stuff out of your hands maybe? To help?’ The other woman, JJ, shook her head and chucked ‘I’m all right, thanks, I think us teachers should make juggling a million things an Olympic sport. I’d so win all medals.’

‘Oh, you bet you’d win. I once carried all seven volumes of Proust’s writing with me on my way to class and still had a perfectly good cup of coffee in one of my hands along with my laptop.’ Emily responded with a playful wink. 

‘Touché. Though this calls for a friendly competition. With bets.’ Emily rolled her eyes and huffed ‘What are you, a student or a teacher?’ JJ stopped at a door where a bunch of people, teachers presumably, were all hugging one another. Emily shuddered at the thought of having to do that, the colleagues at her previous school had never done that. The horror.

‘Well, as you can see, Em. Here we are. I gotta run because I was supposed to be at a meeting 10 minutes ago.’ JJ winked at her and hurried back into the other direction before Emily could thank her new colleague.

Emily decided to let this, well let’s just call it odd, interaction slide for now and focus on the goals for today. Locate teacher’s lounge, find her department’s office, survive the never-ending start of the year speech, and finally endure an awkward lunch. Hopefully, she’d run into that lovely English teacher that she’d met at the orientation, but honestly, she didn’t really remember her name anymore.

Emily sighed for what felt like the umpteenth that day and entered the incredibly crowded teacher’s lounge. She wanted to leave as soon as she’d entered it, because the scene she’d witnessed in the hall was being repeated here, in tenfold. Everyone at this school seemed to be quite chummy with one another, which Emily hated, especially after Amy.

‘Hi, Emily wasn’t it?’ Why did people keep sneaking up behind her Emily wondered. There he was, the colleague she had met at orientation ‘Yeah, uhhh…sorry I forgot your name.’ Emily smiled sheepishly at her new colleague.

‘Alex Blake. I’ve been introduced to at least 20 people today and I think I’ve forgotten all their names again’ Emily nodded in sympathy.

‘I’m not even trying to remember the names, because I know it’s a hopeless endeavor.’ Emily deadpanned and Alex laughed, which caused a few heads to turn in curiosity, but the two women ignored them.

‘Fair enough. Anyway, I need to find a place to dump my stuff.’ And she was off, lost in the sea of people hugging and kissing each other. Emily usually didn’t mind being alone, but she felt almost like a student herself again which disgusted her on a whole other level. She guessed that psychologists would have a field day studying teachers, the original masochists, and her in particular as she tended to hate most of her students.

Why hadn’t she become the politician her mom would have wanted her to become? She could have had her own private island at this point rather than a shitty one-bedroom apartment. Oh well, too late now. Time to find her department’s office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two!
> 
> Enjoy :)

Chapter 2  
A few hours later and Emily hard so far survived meeting her new French colleagues, suffered through the awkward call out from the principal to introduce her to the school, and she had made it through a lunch with bland sandwiches. Emily remember why she didn’t get out of her comfort zone much, it was simply because she hated being the odd one out. She enjoyed being part of a group where no one would pay particular attention to her, as she had had to endure that throughout her childhood as the ambassador’s daughter.

Emily saw an empty workspace and she decided to settle there for a couple of hours to prepare the first lessons with her new classes. The first lessons were always the worst, because she had to do ‘fun’ activities to work on the class’ dynamic and get to know the names, but in truth, it was something she utterly loathed. She’d rather set-up a project and allow the students to work together in small teams to get to know each other while having to learn how to deal with one another. Emily had just finished the power point for the first two lessons with the first years and was about to start on another lesson when the door flew open.

Suddenly a woman entered carrying a whole load of trays and two grocery bags and was followed by a muscular man who was in the middle of telling a story ‘-and I told him, that’s how you set a fire, Reid. Like the kid has -’ and the man stopped speaking when he realized they had an intruder in their room.

‘Uh, hello.’ Emily looked up grumpily at the two loud people.

The man eyed his colleague briefly and the woman spoke up, obviously the leader of the two ‘Hi, my name is Penelope Garcia. I teach IT here. This is Derek Morgan and he is the physics teacher. And you are?’ The blonde woman was dressed in bright colors and her personality seemed to reflect that, as the only way that Emily could possibly describe her was bubbly. 

‘Emily Prentiss, ma’am. Lovely to meet you.’ Her two colleagues flashed bright smiles and stood there waiting...for something. There was an almost tangible awkwardness in the room, but Emily was unsure what had caused it.

‘Uh, sorry do you need this room?’

‘Would you mind?’ Penelope asked her, almost pleading. Truth to be told, she did mind, but it was her first day at her new job and this new and improved Emily thing had to work for her, so she had to be less stand-offish to people.

‘No, it’s all right. Just let me clear out.’ She rapidly packed up with laptop and papers and left the office space. The two intruders smiling sweetly at her. As she closed the door behind the pair, perhaps they were lovers, but that didn’t explain the party hats they had had in one of the grocery bags, Emily noticed the breathtaking mural of a space ship on the exterior of the workspace.

Perhaps there was some office politics at play here after all. 

***

Emily found another vacated workspace across the one she’d just been occupying minutes prior. It was odd, but not the weirdest thing she had faced in over 5 years of teaching. The brunette set up her table again and continued where she’d left off. 

That was until a bunch of people nosily made their way through the hallway and entered the room that Emily had been occupying mere minutes earlier. Well, that was certainly, peculiar. Emily guessed that it must have been some sort of exclusive welcome back party, which would explain the party hats, but why that particular room? It all screamed crazies to her and Emily decided she would try to keep away from those people.

Professionalism came first and the past had shown her how fraternization had fucked up her life for her. She wouldn’t make that same mistake again, no matter how tempting it was to socialize with that pretty blonde from earlier. The new Prentiss would keep work at work and her private life, or her lack thereof, at home. 

After god-knows how much daydreaming Emily forced herself to return to reality, she couldn’t be dozing off on her first day of work. There was still plenty to be done. The past was in the past.

The room across of her was definitely hosting a party of some sorts, as Emily was quite certain that someone was playing top 40 music, and the loud chanting of ‘party’ might have been a clue, too. Thankfully, Emily was trained to be able to check tests or plan lessons while there were dozens of students surrounding her, so this was child’s play. Though, she had to admit she was a bit irritated, because this had seemed to be a deserted corner in the school.

Both the party and Emily continue on with their proceedings until she was interrupted by a knock on the door followed by the woman, she’d met earlier entering the room.

‘Hey, do you mind if I come in?’ The blonde was awkwardly standing in the doorway. Emily raised her eyebrow. Emily realized she was not going to have a quiet moment until she left the building.

‘Well, aren’t you inside already?’ JJ huffed and closed the door behind her.

‘Fair enough. Uh, I hope we are not being too loud for you. I could tell Derek to turn down the music if you would like that. And I brought cake!’ JJ revealed a delicious-looking chocolate cake, which Emily reluctantly admitted looked much more appealing that those bland sandwiches from earlier. Emily couldn’t help but notice that the blonde had a beautiful smile. Dammit. She needed to keep her distance.

‘Thank you for the cake.’ Emily said as the accepted the cake and lied ‘The music is all right, I don’t mind.’

‘Reid baked it. He is the chemistry teacher and his baking is out of this world.’ Emily raised her eyebrows in response.

‘I will let you get back to your work, Em. I’m pretty sure you are the only one who is actually preparing their lessons at the moment. See ya later.’ With a cheeky smile JJ left the room.

Oh fuck, Emily thought to herself, she was so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. 
> 
> Feedback/Comments/Kudos are much appreciated :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! Another chapter :)
> 
> Enjoy!

The bell rang, signaling it was time to start her first lesson. Emily had been teaching for over 5 years now, but every single year the very first lesson always freaked her out a little. Alex was, like her, standing at the entrance of her classroom to welcome her new demons into her classroom for the first time that year.

‘Excited, Emily?’ Alex asked, she was fiddling with her hands and anxiously peered around the corner, but she did this with a smile. Apparently, Emily wasn’t alone in the back to school nerves department.

‘You can see that I’m excited from my smile.’ Emily deadpanned. Alex laughed loudly and Emily shook her head with a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

‘I don’t envy your students. Those poor souls.’ Alex joked.

‘I’m their teacher, not a therapist.’ That was the last thing she could say to her, as suddenly hordes of students besieged the too-narrow halls. This was it then. Emily patiently greeted each of her new students. God they all looked like one another, remembering their names was going to be a hassle. From the corner of her eye, Emily saw Alex excitedly welcome her students into her classroom. Emily closed the door and it was her time to shine.

The first few minutes were, like usual, rather awkward, since she did not believe in those hellish getting-to-know-your-classmate type of deal, but she sucked it up and survived it. After the now-forever-blocked-from-memory ordeal of games, Emily moved on with the course’s goals and curriculum for the first semester. Gradually, she felt the teaching rhythm come back to her and by the end of the lesson, she was fully back into it again.

The day, as most of her seemingly endless days, flew by and before Emily realized she was finished teaching for the day. It only took her a second to realize that she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink, besides a black coffee a few hours ago, since her breakfast. It was well after three already, so she needed to eat something before she fainted on the spot.

Emily quickly made her way to the teachers’ lounge, where her food was awaiting her in the fridge. The school was already littered with discarded plastic bottles and cans of soda. The true backbone of every school had to be the cleaning staff, who had to endure all the crap that students put them through day in and day out. Emily had to get them a gift card or something.

It was late, as the halls were practically deserted, and Emily safely made it to the teachers’ lounge, which happened to be relatively quiet. She retrieved her belated lunch and poured herself a cup of tea and sat down at an empty table.

‘Is this seat taken?’ Emily looked up to see JJ again. Was this woman stalking her?

‘Does it look taken?’ Emily grumbled, her blood sugar was definitely low because she was crankier than usual. JJ apparently decided to take the risk and sat down on the chair opposite Emily.

‘So, how was your first day?’ Oh god, Emily prayed that she wasn’t going to be backed into a small talk corner for the next twenty minutes.

‘All right, I guess. I swear every year they get smaller.’

‘I know, right? Oh god, my students are great, and we played so many games. I love playing games with them as they go all crazy competitive over it. Apparently, Derek has a student who asked him what Africa was like when growing up, ignoring the awkward assumption, like the kid thought Africa was a country. I feel a little bad for the student because Derek ripped him a well-deserved new one. I wish I could have been there. I have had the privilege of being present during a similar occasion and it is highly entertaining yet painful to watch.’ JJ rattled on, but Emily found herself actively listening to the energetic woman, and she couldn’t help but feel her spirits lift a tad bit. Emily cringed as she imagined her colleague putting that student in their place gently.

‘Wow, I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’ve heard worse.’ Emily added as JJ finished her story.

‘Yeah, same here. One time my student claimed that she had interviewed Shakespeare for her report on his life.’ Emily laughed at her colleague. 

‘Seriously? What did you even say to them?’ Emily leaned forward a little as she munched on her chocolate chip cookie.

‘Uh, that he had been dead for hundreds of years? Apparently, she had seen a documentary about his life and thought that it was about the present. She honest to god believed that the UK still looked like the 16th century. Then, I decided to do an impromptu lesson on present-day Britain.’ JJ explained with a smile. Emily could tell that JJ was truly passionate about her job and loved teaching kids. 

‘Excuse me for intruding, but JJ I require your assistance.’ A tall man with a soft voice interrupted the two women.

‘Oh, I’m off again, Em. I hope you had a good first day.’

‘Wait, why do you keep calling me, Em?’ Emily called after her, but it was too late, as JJ had disappeared yet again. Emily watched the empty space for a few minutes as she finished her lunch. The blonde intrigued her, and she had the air of a potential ally at this new school, which Emily found reassuring but also disconcerting. Well, for a first day this hadn’t been all that bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Emily was just finishing up her lesson on the Imparfait when she overheard a gem of a conversation.

‘No, Denise there are 19 letters in the alphabet.’ Sara shook her head and Emily hoped that she would salvage the other girl’s education, but sadly her response left something to be desired.

‘Sara, no there are 29.’ Emily gawked at them and before he could educate both of her 16-year-old students, the bell rang and the class immediately hurried out of the room. The final lesson of the day had finished, so that meant a few minutes of silence before she would have to continue with the best part of teaching: administrative tasks.

The first weeks positively flew by and Emily found herself falling back into her old habits of teaching, again, but surprisingly she had rapidly formed new ones, as well. She arrived every morning at 8 on the dot, proceeded to have her coffee and then set up her classroom for the lessons that day. During her first break, she would stay in her room and eat a piece of fruit, enjoying the relative peace in the room, though she had to ignore the screaming students outside of the classroom. For the big lunch break Emily made the effort to actually exit her classroom and made her way to the teachers’ lounge where she would have lunch. She usually would sit with a few of her French colleagues, they were all nice enough, but Emily made sure that the conversations remained professional. One Alex Blake had been different, of course. She and Emily had struck up a relationship and they supported each other at this new school. It was nice having one friendly face in the crowd of colleagues.

One of the nicest things about this new school was that she had his own classroom for the first time in her life, but then again, she was working full-time now. At her previous school, she had to endure the lifeless classrooms, which belonged to no department or teacher, so the rooms were neutral. They resembled hospital rooms more than classrooms. Emily had hated that.

Though, after having spent an entire day in the same room, Emily occasionally worked in the room with the space mural that she had been unceremoniously kicked out of on her first day. Emily had tried to forget JJ, but she often ended up wondering why she hadn’t come to pester her again. There had been infrequent glimpses of JJ, Emily usually saw her through the window in her classroom, teaching her little delinquents or they briefly greeted one another in the hall. 

There was a knock on the door and Emily rolled her eyes. Of course, she should have known. Her colleague entered the room and smiled at her, but Emily had forgotten his name.

‘Hi, I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Derek. Could I join you? The other workspaces are all occupied.’ At least she didn’t get kicked out of this room again.

‘Yeah, of course, there’s plenty of space.’ Emily moved some of her binders to create a bit more space for Derek and then added ‘I have to admit that I had forgotten your name, so in case you didn’t remember mine, it’s Emily.’

‘I remembered, but thanks anyway.’ 

The two worked quietly together, Emily was thankful that Derek didn’t do the standard introduction routine that both of them were bound to forget after a day or two. Emily enjoyed the man’s company as he had this calm and collected air about him, unlike some of the colleagues Emily had encountered before. Where had all the normal people gone?

There was a disturbance outside of the room and Emily looked up from her laptop. Derek cringed and said ‘I have to warn you. A lot of people are going to come and work here now. Just stay, but they...well, work differently from you and I.’ Emily raised her eyebrow. Was this the group from the other day? She wasn’t going to allow some rowdy people to kick her out of this room for the second time.

‘-then Frank asked “Ms. Jareau, what animals do turtle shells come from?” and then he wouldn’t believe me that turtles are hatched from their eggs with their shells.’ JJ said to the others as he entered the room. The others laughed in disbelief.

‘Oh, hi Em. Lovely of you to join us today.’ She said with a wink. Emily rolled her eyes at the nickname. Derek appeared to be confused by the nickname and stared inquisitively at his colleagues.

‘I am pretty sure you are joining Derek and I.’ Emily deadpanned. 

‘That is true, JJ.’ Derek nodded as he watched the situation unfold.

‘So, stuck on the details.’ JJ winked at her and Emily wished that the woman would stop doing that. It was getting harder to deny the feeling that it caused. Emily thought she was being ridiculous, they had literally talked twice and yes, she was attractive, but the reaction of her body was uncalled for.

‘Yes, now move over so we all fit. Time to get to work.’ The others sat down while staring at one another, as it was obvious that they were not following this conversation.

‘Fine.’ Emily frowned and got back to work. There was absolute silence for about 3 minutes and then it started. Emily wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, but it appeared that Penelope had thrown something at Derek and the man retaliated with stealing her phone. Within mere seconds the two were stumbling around the room fighting over Garcia’s phone, while JJ sat there devilishly smiling as she took out her phone to record the fight. Blackmail material Emily assumed.

‘Settle down everybody,’ Yes, she was using her teacher voice, but in this case, she allowed herself to use it outside of the classroom. The two immediately stopped, stared at Emily, and both sat down again. Teachers were basically grown-up students Emily thought to herself. The silence returned and the group worked in relative peace for another hour.

‘Ok, I’m done for today. Those demons really drained me today. Class 4H just take years off my life every time I teach them.’ Penelope closed her laptop with more force than necessary. ‘Yeah, I understand. Kevin just doesn’t know how to shut up.’ JJ nodded in agreement.

Emily realized she taught the same group and added ‘They are indeed a tough class, but they have calmed down a bit for me.’

‘Em, I’m pretty sure they are terrified of you. Show me your ways please.’ Penelope begged her while she was packing her bag. 

‘It’s all about the fear, Penelope.’ Emily smiled at her colleagues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)


	5. Chapter 5

‘Hey, Emily! Wait up!’ One Jennifer Jareau was running to catch up with her. Did Emily have honey on her ass or something?

‘What?’ Emily tried to sound as annoyed as she possibly could, but secretly she was quite happy to see her colleague again.

‘I...uh was wondering if you would like to have a drink sometime?’ JJ looked a bit nervous, though she was beaming at Emily.

‘Uh…what kind of drink?’ Emily was confused about JJ’s intentions.

‘Oh, wait… I didn’t mean it in that way. Uh, I mean just as colleagues. Talk about work and stuff. You seem...nice?’ JJ babbled awkwardly with red cheeks as she obviously had realized the way it had come across. 

Emily felt a tad bit disappointed, but she reasoned it was for the better like this. JJ was probably straight anyway. Also, Emily had been feeling a bit lonely and she missed her old friends and, of course, Joanna quite a lot. In just a few weeks she would come over, it would be the first time in months that she actually would see her baby girl face-to-face again.

‘Sounds like fun, but really, JJ? Nice?’ Emily teased JJ who turned even redder than before.

‘Is that a yes?’ JJ’s smiled.

‘Whatever. I’ve got nothing to do tonight anyway.’ Or any other night for that matter, Emily added mentally.

‘I know a place. How did you get to work?’ JJ asked.

‘By bike. Is it far?’ Emily wondered if she was doing the right thing, but it was too late now.

‘Oh, I went by car, but we can meet there. It’s only a 10-minute bike ride.’ JJ proceeded to give her the address and directions. It was only a few streets from Emily’s apartment.

***

‘So, how are you?’ JJ kind of awkwardly started. The two women had just ordered their food and drinks. The place was rather run of the mill looking, it wasn’t overly fancy but not trashy either and Emily hoped that the food would be decent.

‘JJ, we literally saw each other 15 minutes ago.’ Emily tried to ignore the sudden anxiety she felt, as she realized that he barely knew the other woman. She hoped that JJ would remain chatty because there was nothing more unpleasant than long stilted silences.

‘Oh come on, I mean like in this new city, new school, yadda yadda.’ JJ rolled her eyes.

‘I’m from Washington.’ Both women halted their conversation as their waiter brought them their drinks. JJ winked at the waiter who promptly turned beet red as he stumbled back to her station. Perhaps JJ was a natural flirt? Emily wondered as this would explain her flirting with Emily from before. Was this JJ’s attitude to everyone? Emily ignored the pang of disappointment as she realized that JJ’s intentions were most likely only platonic. She pushed the thought away, as she was not looking for a relationship anyway. Maybe she would never be ready for another relationship after Amy. 

‘Figured. You are a true mystery and I won’t be surprised if you were a politician in your previous life.’ JJ sipped from her drink while giving Emily a cheeky grin.

‘An ambassador’s daughter, actually.’ Emily knew she was naturally reserved, but she felt sort of giddy knowing that JJ wondered about her life. 

‘Interesting. Now, I need to know all the state secrets that you know of. Did you move around a lot?’ JJ leaned forward in interest.

‘Yeah, it is actually the reason I learned French. I lived in France for 9 years, 5 in Russia, and 10 in Italy.’ Emily explained. 

‘Oh wow, so wait how many languages do you speak?’ 

‘I speak English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, and Russian.’ Emily hoped that JJ understood that she wasn’t bragging, as sometimes people didn’t believe her. JJ’s mouth was agape in obvious shock but quickly regained her composure. 

‘The most important question is what is the best language to do dirty talk in. It fascinates me.’ Emily almost choked on her drink in surprise. Was JJ flirting with her?

‘Well, that’s definitely an interesting question. I think it has to be Italian, but French is really close, pun intended.’ With all of her being Emily resisted making the flirtatious remark she had actually wanted to make. She wanted to ask JJ to find out herself. 

‘Ha, I really thought French would be the best language for it. So, Ms. Polyglot why did you decide to come to teach here in our little town?’ JJ asked as she playfully twirled a strand of her hair. Emily figured it out right there and then. JJ was a flirt, and this was just part of her personality. She was definitely not interested in Emily that way.

‘My wife and I divorced, and I felt like I needed to leave.’ She didn’t want to talk about this, but Emily really didn’t see an easy way out of the conversation.

‘Oh, I’m sorry. Were you guys together for long?’ JJ reached over to Emily and briefly squeezed her hand. Definitely overly flirty behavior, Emily noted, though it was comforting nonetheless.

‘Here is your food, ladies. Let me know if you need anything. Enjoy your meal.’ The waiter, thankfully, cut into their increasingly no-go-zone conversation territory. It was too soon. Emily couldn’t deal with it. JJ smiled pleasantly to the waiter and thanked him for the food.

‘10 years. I’d rather not talk about the past, JJ. What about you?’ That was the adult thing to do, as she would not skid around the conversation like a teenager who was incapable of talking about what she was or was not comfortable with.

‘Duly noted. I’m from this little town in Pennsylvania. I came here 5 years ago as an intern and I just kind of never left.’ Emily nodded and took a bite from her food. It was lovely and simple, well that was surprising at least.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ 

‘Because of my sparkling personality?’ JJ leaned forward and stared at him with those captivating blue eyes.

Emily couldn’t help but smile at that comment.

‘I think this is the first time I’ve seen you properly smile.’ JJ commented softly. 

‘You-what? I already had a theory that you were stalking me, but that’s been pretty much confirmed now. So, JJ. What do you do when you are not teaching the demons?’ Emily not-so-subtly changed the topic

‘I like to paint.’

‘Again, the answer I didn’t expect, but not surprising knowing you. What do you like to paint?’ Emily observed the woman eating her steak, dammit she secretly wished this was a date, but it really wasn’t.

‘Anything, really. People, landscapes, abstract or...well just everything. What about you?’

‘You have to show me some of your work.’ JJ nodded enthusiastically and Emily continued ‘I like reading, but I also enjoy going outside and just walk around.’

‘Oh, who’s your favorite author?’

‘That’s a tough one, but Nnedi Okorafor is definitely in my top three right now. Her Binti trilogy and Who Fears Death novel were absolutely incredible. Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation trilogy was also great, and I am a real sucker for anything that Kazuo Ishiguro writes.’

‘I don’t know any of them, but I’m glad you are so excited about them. I hardly read nowadays, yes, but shocking I know as I am an English teacher. You must give me some recommendations.’ JJ said excitedly.

‘I’m warning you, but once I start talking about books it is hard for me to shut up about them. I rarely have a chance to talk to about books. It’s been a while.’ Emily almost felt shy. Being around JJ made Emily put her guard down. It had been a long time she had so openly talked about her passions. This was very unlike Emily, as it normally took ages for her to open up to somebody.

‘No, it’s all right. I like seeing you all passionate.’ Emily felt her cheeks burn. JJ must be the champion of flirting. 

‘Uh, thank you. Though, I’m a very boring old woman.’

‘You are what, like 30? Don’t be so dramatic.’ JJ took a bite of her food and then softly added ‘You are definitely not boring, Em.’

’32 actually.’

‘Em, I have the feeling this is the start of an interesting friendship.’ There was that look again, which made Emily’s head feel light.

‘Oh, you think you can keep pestering me until I give in, don’t you?’ Emily teased.

‘Haven’t you already given in?’ Emily would never admit that it was indeed already too late for her.

‘I plead the fifth.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)


	6. Chapter 6

A few days later and JJ had become a fixture in Emily’s life. Now her morning routine included having a coffee with JJ before their lessons started. When JJ had asked her what time she usually arrived and whether Emily had the time to have a coffee in the morning or not, Emily had lied. She had started showing up to work 20 minutes earlier, so that she and JJ would have time for the morning coffee in the deserted teachers’ lounge.

JJ was, of course, included in her afternoon routine, as well. Now whenever Emily finished teaching, she would have a belated lunch in the teachers’ lounge, where JJ joined her. Emily had wondered whether JJ actually worked or not or was at the school just to bother her, but she was secretly enjoying it. Afterwards JJ would go off to that group ‘work’ thing and she would always invite Emily, who would respectfully decline.

Emily started her final lesson of that day and she couldn’t help but feeling excited to see JJ in about 50 minutes.

Of course, her students weren’t having it today. The class was unusually chaotic, and Emily walked up to a girl sitting idly during independent working time. The girl, who must have been staring at the same piece of wall for the last 20 minutes, looked up to her teacher and smiled at her apologetically. 

‘Ms. Prentiss, I took my Biology books.’

‘Tina, what subject is this?’ The class quieted down, and Emily felt 20-odd pairs of eyes on her. 

‘French, Ms.’ 

‘Is your Biology book in French?’ Emily felt that her patience was starting to run out.

‘No, Ms.’ The girl responded.

‘Then what are you going to do about it?’

‘I’ll just work with Jared. I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay, just take your stuff with you next time.’ Emily sighed and tried to salvage whatever was left of her class, as the students were all over the place. She wondered what had caused it this time, the weather, an event, a fight with another teacher? Though it could simply also be because it was their final class of the day.

Emily let the students work on their Fontaine-inspired fairy tales for the remainder of the class as she longingly started at the clock, willing time to move quicker. After what seemed like an eternity the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the day. Emily didn’t even bother properly ending the lesson, professionalism be damned, as if her students would care after a dead-end lesson like this one.

If anyone, one Alex Blake in particular, claimed that Emily was half-jogging to the teachers’ lounge that day, Emily would deny it until her dying day. It was simply an odd occurrence that Emily was a little out of breath as she entered the teachers’ lounge. The woman forced herself to calm down and grabbed a cup of coffee and her lunch. JJ was nowhere to be seen.

‘Hi, Em.’ Why was it so easy to sneak up on him? Emily sighed audibly as looked up to see JJ’s peculiar attire, to say the least.

‘Hello, JJ.’ Emily started as she eyed her colleague suspiciously.

‘Yes?’ JJ started at her innocently.

‘JJ, why are you dressed up like a Queen Victoria?’ JJ had evidently gone all out to dress up as the late Queen of England. She was wearing an elaborate Victorian dress with a wig.

‘Education, Em.’ Emily wondered this woman was actually insane.

‘Obviously.’

‘Think of the kids.’

‘That’s what I was doing, JJ.’ Emily admired JJ’s ability to keep a straight face, as Emily was doing all she could to keep her resolve strong, which was damn near impossible with JJ smiling at her in her stupid outfit.

‘Awww, you love it, Em.’

‘You look like a theater student puked on you.’ JJ laughed at Emily and sat down across from her colleague.

‘The theater department did, in fact, help me out with this. Thanks for the compliment.’ Emily stared in amazement at her colleague. How could a woman who appeared so calm and collected also be so flirty and excited at the same time, Emily wondered. 

‘So... why are you still dressed like Queen Victoria?’ Emily sipped her coffee as she observed JJ’s unusual attire with interest. It didn’t look all that bad and JJ could definitely pull it off, though Emily would never admit that.

‘I didn’t want to miss our coffee date, uh meet-up, so I just kind of owned it until the final period.’ Emily opted to ignore that Freudian slip of JJ, but this was not helping her what-might-be-called crush.

‘When was this outfit relevant to your lesson?’

‘Second period.’ JJ beamed at her.

‘So, you are saying that you walked around in this god-awful outfit for the last 5 hours? Go and change, JJ.’

‘But what about coffee?’ JJ pouted as she dramatically gestured at Emily’s coffee mug.

‘Well, I can wait for you or we…can get out of here? I mean I’m actually ahead on planning my lessons for once. I was planning to make ramen, but there should be enough for two.’ Emily felt like a teenager, why was JJ making her feel and act so insecure? There was something about the other woman that put her off balance, though not necessarily in a bad way.

‘That sounds great, Em. Are you sure you don’t mind?’

‘No, it will be nice to hang out more than 10 minutes each day.’ JJ nodded excitedly started heading for the door.

‘Yeah, indeed. Anyway, I will change out of this amazing outfit and will meet you here in 10? Is that okay?’

‘Sure, no rush. I will get my stuff ready, as well.’ Before Emily could get the final word out, JJ had already exited the room.

Emily quickly finished her coffee and made her way back to the department’s office. She had to collect his laptop and laptop charger, so he could charge it at home overnight. Once she arrived and searched through the entirety of the department's office and her classroom, Emily realized that she had left her laptop charger in the spaceship room.

Emily sighed, she was not equipped to deal with that chaos right at that moment, but she had to suck it up. They were actually friendly people and they didn’t bite, Emily hoped.

The moment Emily opened the door, the room turned dead quiet, obviously not expecting a visitor.

‘Uh, hi. Did anybody find a laptop charger here?’ Emily somewhat tentatively asked. She really wasn’t sure what to expect from these people.

‘Oh, hi Emily. I was wondering why I had two chargers. I must have taken it by accident.’ Derek said as he retrieved the charger from his bag. 

‘Thank you. Oh, and I think I haven’t introduced myself to everybody in the room. I’m Emily Prentiss. I teach French.’ Emily said as she put her charger in her bag.

‘We know, you are JJ’s new friend. I’m Spencer Reid, the chemistry teacher.’ Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise. This definitely indicated that JJ had talked about her. 

‘I’m David Rossi and I teach philosophy. Nice to meet you.’ The Italian man said. 

‘I’m Aaron Hotchner. I teach History. Sorry for being so impolite. Would you accept some Madeleines as our apology?’ The man said gently. Emily recalled him from before. 

‘That’s a great idea, Hotch! Here take these Emily. Spencer baked these Madeleines this morning. They are delicious.’ Penelope scrambled to put together a nice selection for Emily. 

‘Oh, thank you. That’s awfully nice of you.’ Emily happily accepted the bag of Madeleines, as she remembered that insanely irresistible chocolate cake that JJ had given him all those weeks ago. Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder and JJ appeared next to her. Emily ignored their sudden proximity and focused on her bag of Madeleines. 

‘Emily, well I didn’t expect to find you here. What happened to the teachers’ lounge?’ JJ asked curiously, now wearing her regular clothes again.

‘Well, I just had to get my laptop charger.’ She pointed at the charger in her open bag.

‘JJ’ Chris called ‘Aren’t you joining us in our lovely work session today?’

‘Emily and I are going to spend some quality time together. She’s even going to cook for me.’ JJ winked at Emily. Penelope and Derek whistled at them as Aaron shook his head at his friends.

‘Awww how sweet. At least she’s wooing you and they say romance is dead!’ Derek smiled devilishly at the two women. Emily felt her ears burn. 

‘No, one is getting wooed here. You are doing the washing up, JJ.’ Emily declared, quickly thwarting possible awkwardness that could ensue. This stupid crush had to be ignored, because JJ was obviously into men and Emily really couldn’t do any of this again. 

‘Oh come on, Emily. You break my heart.’ JJ added dramatically. She mimed breaking a heart for the standard JJ flair.

‘So, the romance is dead then.’ Derek stated.

‘Anyhow, we are off because Emily promised me ramen! Find yourself a friend that can cook...wait, you can cook, right? Okay, well if I don’t show up to work tomorrow then I’ve died from food poisoning. Hotch, I trust that you will handle my will in an efficient manner and that all my life’s riches are shared among my closest friends. Oh hark, what will you all do without me? The driving force of our crew? The heart and soul of all of you.’ Emily could not believe JJ. This woman was something else for sure.

‘Shut up, JJ.’ Emily said.

‘Did she actually just say “hark”?’ Derek asked and Rossi nodded in response.

‘Well, you never stop talking. Let’s get out of here before I change my mind and I actually do poison you.’ Emily said.

‘Bye, my friends. My companions.’ JJ exclaimed to her friends and hurried after Emily.

‘You’re ridiculous.’ Emily said as JJ had caught up with her.

‘Who? Me?’ JJ asked innocently.

‘Yes, you.’ Emily shook her head at the other woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying the story :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Thirty minutes later and the two women arrived at Emily’s bare apartment.

‘It’s nothing special, sorry.’ Emily somewhat self-consciously commented. She observed JJ, who was eyeing the living room with a mild curiosity.

‘It’s a nice place, you’ve got here.’ JJ said.

‘Thanks, it’s just empty.’ Emily always felt awkward when people entered her home for the first time. It felt like she had to overcompensate and that she had to play the dutiful ambassador’s daughter. Emily was thankful that she didn’t have a lot of friends here, so she could be at home in peace.

‘Did you just move in here?’ JJ asked as she sat down on the pristine couch.

‘Just before the start of the school year started. Hence all the boxes in the corner over there.’ Emily pointed to the never-ending pile of half-opened boxes that were not-so-neatly stacked in one corner of the room.

‘Ah, and here I thought it was just a Washingtonian style of decoration.’ Emily felt the awkwardness fade and she rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips.

‘Tsk.’ JJ laughed and shook her head.

‘You love me, Em.’ Emily ignored the way that comment made her feel and opened the fridge.

‘You wish. Do you want anything to drink?’ Emily asked. 

‘What have you got?’ Emily suddenly regretted inviting JJ over for dinner. This had been a terrible idea. The point of moving all the way across the country was for Emily to have a fresh start. Though, she feared it was already too late, as JJ had become a fixture at her work.

‘I’ve got milk, beer and wine.’ Emily ignored her inner turmoil and turned to her co-worker.

‘Beer seems great.’ Emily grabbed a beer, opened it, and handed it to JJ.

‘I am going to start on the ramen, otherwise you will be stuck here until midnight.’ Emily retrieved the ingredients from the fridge and the cupboards as JJ was staring at her.

‘Can I help? I’m not the worst cook.’

‘You know, whenever people say, “I’m not the worst cook.” or “I’m not racist/sexist/homophobic.” it usually means the opposite.’ Emily commented and JJ laughed.

‘You wound me. I could chop stuff?’

‘Fine. You can make a salad.’ Emily reluctantly agreed and handed the woman a knife as well as some vegetables. JJ obediently chopped the vegetables as Emily was busy preparing the broth. The two worked on their dinner in a comfortable silence. 

A little while later the two women were enjoying their well-made meal, though JJ had a bandaged hand.

‘The food is delicious. Could you write down the recipe for me?’ JJ asked as she finished her bowl.

‘JJ, I don’t think I will, because you cut your hand three times. How did you survive so far in life?’

‘Sheer luck and a lot of determination.’ JJ winked at her colleague. 

After a short silence JJ started talking, ‘So, Emily I have a question for you. It might come across as harsh, but I have been trying to figure it out, but I can’t.’

‘Ask away.’ Emily felt slightly nervous. What did she want to know?

‘Why did you become a teacher? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you frequently complain about the students and I was wondering if you actually, you know, enjoy it. Teaching.’ Emily’s first instinct was to pretend that she was perfectly happy, but she wanted to change. She needed to learn how to be more open and honest. 

‘That’s a very astute observation of you. I have to admit that it’s been difficult lately. I used to be passionate about my subject, but I have been through a lot in the past year and I have been having issues adjusting.’ JJ squeezed her hand briefly. 

‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘It’s getting better, though. At the start of the year I didn’t look forward to teaching that much, but I’m honestly having a great time with my groups. I didn’t realize I come off as negative.’

‘You don’t come off as negative, I think you just seem disenfranchised. Lost.’

‘I used to love teaching so much. I actually really like children, but lately I don’t seem to have the patience for them.’

‘I don’t know what you went through before, but it might have to do with that. You have to deal and start focusing on the present. I went through the same phase a few years ago after I broke up with my boyfriend. I kept lamenting on our relationship and without realizing a year had passed and then he was already in a committed relationship with another woman. I was just stuck in the past and it made me miserable.’ JJ explained everything in such clear terms and Emily felt as if the blonde was reading her mind. 

‘I’m sorry about your relationship. But that’s… really good advice actually. Thank you.’ Emily appreciated JJ’s honesty, especially as they were still practically strangers. 

‘It’s for the best. I just speak from personal experience. Why don’t you join me with the others sometime? I know you are a bit apprehensive about my friends, but they’re a great bunch.’ JJ sipped her red wine, which the two women had switched to after dinner. 

‘I guess. It’s not that I don’t like them, but I’m just not the best in large groups.’ Emily said. 

‘Aw, they are sweet. I promise they don’t bite.’ 

‘Thank you for this. It was nice talking about this. It really helped.’ Emily meant what she said, because for the first time in months she felt as if a weight had lifted off her shoulders. JJ smiled and said, ‘You’re welcome. If you ever need to talk about anything I’m here.’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoying the fic :) 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short one today, but I hope you are enjoying the fic! 
> 
> Thank you for reading :)

‘Ms. I can’t read your handwriting.’ Emily paused writing on the blackboard. She sighed and decided that honesty was the best way to go.

‘Well, no one can read yours either, Jake.’ The class gasped and the student turned beet-red. Emily wondered if her comment had gone too far, but this kid deserved it. Emily had returned his work twice already with a failing grade because she had not been able to read Jake’s handwriting. Then she thought about her conversation with JJ the previous night and felt guilty. The student hadn’t deserved this. Emily shouldn’t project her unhappiness onto her students. 

Emily sighed deeply and asked, ‘What part can’t you read?’

‘The...the...oh wait I can already read it. Never mind.’ Jake mumbled as the whole class stared at him.

Emily finished her lesson and the student filed out of the room. The woman asked Jake to stay behind. The anxious looking student stared expectantly at his teacher, though he did seem to be in a rush to get out of the room, as it had been their final lesson of the day.

‘Jake, I’m sorry for that comment.’ Emily said. 

‘No, Ms. It’s fair.’ Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise. That was definitely not the response she had been expecting. Emily had already prepared a letter of apology to the boy’s parents in her head, but apparently that wouldn’t be necessary.

‘Well, I shouldn’t have made that comment. Though, you, and apparently, I, need to work on our handwriting because it is illegible.’

‘I understand, Ms.’

‘Have a nice day, Jake.’ The boy all but ran out of the room. Students never failed to surprise her. Emily started gathering his papers and got ready to meet with JJ in the teachers’ lounge.

‘So, a bird told me you had a date with a certain English teacher.’ One Alex Blake had sneaked into the room and was sitting on one of the tables with an ominous smile on her face.

‘It wasn’t a date. It was a get together for friends. Colleagues.’ Emily grumbled, though her heart might or might not have started beating somewhat faster at the mention of the date.

‘Then, tell me about your not-date, Emily. I can’t help but notice that you were smiling all day. It must have scared your students. Hell, it’s even scaring me.’ Emily mock-glared at her colleague and continued packing her bag. JJ was probably already waiting for her in the teachers’ lounge.

‘I have not been smiling.’ Emily lied while trying to suppress another smile.

‘How was it?’ Alex asked. Emily wondered in what alternate reality she had landed as it felt as if all the teachers in this school behaved like children. 

‘It was...nice. We talked about work, as colleagues often do, and we talked about books.’ Actually, the evening had been more than nice. After their intimate conversation, the mood had brightened considerably. The two women had spent the entire evening chatting about all sorts of things, ranging from Emily’s favorite literary works (JJ had left with about a dozen books) to JJ’s obsession with random British historical facts. Emily had been sad to see JJ leave as it got close to 11 o’clock. It had been one of the first nights that she hadn’t spent alone since she had arrived in this town. Emily was startled out of her thoughts by Alex.

‘Sure, you had a “nice” time. So, what are you doing now?’ Emily felt quite bad. She had been spending so much time with JJ that she had neglected Alex a bit. Emily decided that she would make some time for her later this week. Perhaps they could have dinner, because last night Emily had realized that she needed some company in this dead-end town.

‘I’m...meeting JJ.’ Emily smiled at her colleague sheepishly.

‘Again? Don’t let me stop you. I won’t stand in the way of you two lovebirds.’ Alex smiled deviously at her colleague. 

‘Alex. It wasn’t a date. Get your mind out of the gutter.’ Emily tried to maintain her dignity as she speed-walked to the teachers’ lounge since she was already 5 minutes late.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for homophobic slurs

The two women were sitting at their designated table having their respective coffees and Emily decided that it was time to kick her own butt and asked, ‘When do you guys work in that room of yours?’. All of Emily’s instincts wanted her to take it back, but she was committed to change her life and herself. She wanted to be happy again, even though she felt she was trapped in a self-help book. 

JJ immediately cheered and responded, ‘From 2 o’clock onwards you can always find someone there. Most people join in around 3:30.’ 

‘So, who’s part of this exclusive group?’ Emily asked as she sipped her scalding coffee.

‘Well, it’s not that exclusive. Let me see. You have met Dave, Aaron, Penelope, Spencer, Derek, but there’s still Elle and Kate.’ JJ explained as she counted the members on her fingers. 

‘That’s a whole lotta people.’ Emily was surprised that there were more members she hadn’t met already, and she wondered how all of them fit in that medium-sized room. 

‘Yup, but we work well together.’

‘Nice.’ Emily said and the two women sat in silence, both enjoying their coffees. After a day of insanity and a late night the day prior Emily always loved just being quiet for a moment. It helped to collect her thoughts and to slow down. After what might have been 2- or 20-minutes Emily noticed that JJ was staring at her with great intent.

‘Penny for your thoughts.’ Emily put her empty coffee mug down and made eye contact with JJ. Emily was struck by JJ’s blue eyes and for a moment neither woman said nor moved. Then JJ broke eye contact and asked, ‘Uh, I was wondering if I could have your phone number. You know, if either of us is ill or late that day it would be easier to communicate.’ 

Emily was confused for a moment. She felt that JJ had wanted to ask something bigger, but perhaps she had misread the moment. Emily said, ‘That’s a good idea. Give me your phone and then I can add my details.’

JJ retrieved her phone and said, ‘Here you go.’ 

Emily accepted the phone and started filling in her contact details and when she finished, she handed it back to JJ. 

***  
‘Thank god it’s Friday.’ Emily said to Alex as the two women arrived at their classrooms and Alex nodded in response. Another week had flown by, and Emily started to feel more at home at her new school. She had become much closer to JJ, and Alex was turning out to be a nice friendly colleague who she could spend time at work with. 

‘I’m ready to go home and drink a bottle of red wine while watching bad reality shows. Maybe House Hunters is on tonight.’ Alex sighed dramatically. 

‘That’s life, but I am going to have to stay late because I’m behind on my lesson plans.’ Emily had to admit that she was a little jealous, but she knew she had to get ahead of her work as Joanna was coming over next weekend. It had been too long since she had last held her daughter in her arms. 

‘Oh, that sucks, but I will drink one glass in your honor.’ Alex smiled as she gestured to the first early birds arriving in the hallway.

‘That is much appreciated.’ Emily said and with that, both women entered their respective classrooms.

A few minutes later Emily found herself teaching her least favorite group of students. The problem lay in the classroom dynamics and no matter what Emily tried nothing helped. The group did pay attention during her lessons, but the group always happened to be a little too rowdy for her liking. 

She thought about JJ had said and tried to channel some enthusiasm to get the group going, but it wasn’t working which frustrated Emily even more. The students were divided up into groups while they were working on an assignment, when suddenly a student loudly called ‘Don’t touch me, you fag.’. 

Immediately the whole class quietened down, and Emily snapped her head up from her laptop. One student, Dean she recalled, sprung up and ran out of the classroom with tears in his eyes. It took only a fraction of a second for Emily to respond to the situation and she started with calling out the perpetrator’s name, ‘Carl, how dare you use that language in my classroom?’. She got up from her seat and Carl appeared to be scared out of his mind Emily smugly noted.

‘Listen up all of you. I cannot believe that anyone would do or say something like this to one of their peers. We treat each other with respect. Now all of you get back to work. I don’t want to hear a word. Carl you are going to report yourself to the principal and I will go and talk to Dean.’ 

‘I’m sorry, Ms.’ The student looked sufficiently spooked as he gathered his stuff. The boy exited the room and Emily could hear a pin drop. Slowly, she made her way to the bathrooms where she assumed her student would be. Emily was, in fact, correct and entered the deserted men’s bathroom. 

‘Dean?’ Emily called out softly. For a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the sniffing of the teenager, but then a gentle murmur could be heard ‘I’m in here, Ms. Prentiss.’. Emily was never the one to assume anything about anyone’s life, however due to Dean’s reaction to the horrible slur she couldn’t help but put two and two together. Emily’s heart ached for the boy and she sympathized with him. Wasn’t the world changing for the better?

‘Why don’t come here. It’s easier to talk like that.’ A moment of silence passed, but then the bathroom stall opened, and Dean appeared with his shoulders hunched and his face cast down. He was ashamed. Emily was suddenly struck by uncertainty. She wracked her brain for the best way to handle this delicate matter. Unfortunately, they didn’t train you for this, so Emily was forced to proceed based on instinct and her personal experiences. 

‘Hi, honey. Are you all right?’ Emily asked and the boy shrugged.

‘I’m sorry for ruining the lesson.’ Emily put her hand on his shoulder and tried to establish eye contact with the kid. When he didn’t look up, she said, ‘Look at me, Dean. It’s all right and don’t you ever worry about ensuring your own safety. I’m sorry that this happened in my classroom, but Carl was excused from the lesson and I would love for you to return whenever you are ready.’ 

‘How can I? Everyone knows!’ Dean called out in despair. 

‘Look, Dean. You might not want to hear this, but everyone in your class knows or suspects now. The only thing you can do is get back in there with your head held high and own it.’ Emily explained. 

‘I’m not even out to my parents yet.’ Dean whispered though Emily noted that he seemed more determined than before. 

‘I wish I could make everything go away, unfortunately, I can’t do that. I know how tough it gets out there, but I promise you that my classroom will always be a safe space for you.’

‘Thank you, Ms. Prentiss.’ Dean gave her a weak smile and Emily’s heart swelled. She knew she had succeeded, and Dean was somewhat ready for the difficult path he had to take. 

‘No need to thank me. Get cleaned up and I will see you in class.’ Emily patted him on the shoulder and exited the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter :)


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
Emily sighed to herself. This was ridiculous she was an adult for god sakes. Why would she, a woman in her thirties, be nervous about joining a group of her colleagues? Emily was standing in front of the workroom and its members were loudly arguing over something, though Emily could not discern what the topic of the argument was about. 

Time to face the music Emily thought to herself as she opened the door and the voices continued arguing until they realized that it was Emily. JJ smiled and called ‘Hi, Em!’. The others greeted her, as well. Emily appreciated the fact that there were only a few of the group there and with some trouble she recalled their names. JJ, Penelope, Spencer, and David were sitting around the large desk, which was litter with their work materials and an assortment of food was placed in the center of the desk.

‘Hi, guys. Would you mind if I joined you today?’

At first glance, Emily was already able to tell a lot about their colleagues and their working habits. Spencer’s section of the desk was immaculately organized, whereas David and Penelope’s sections were somewhat messy, however, JJ’s part of the desk, on the other hand was chaotic to put it mildly. Papers were scattered everywhere, and the blonde apparently did not adhere to the stereotypical binder obsession all teachers seemed to have. 

‘There’s a seat next to me.’ JJ patted on the chair next to her and started pushing her work to Rossi’s side of the desk who grumbled at her. 

‘She has been saving this seat for you for at least the last two weeks.’ Spencer stated in a matter of fact tone of voice. Penelope not-so-subtly kicked Spencer under the table, who then proceeded to yell in pain. ‘Ouch, what did you do that for?’ He demanded as he rubbed his shin.

‘I’m going to actually murder you, Spence.’ JJ announced with the sweetest smile she could possibly muster. 

‘But you have been talking about –.’ Penelope kicked him once again as David cut in ‘The best thing is to ignore them and sit down, Emily.’. JJ directed a final glare at Spencer and then turned to her friend and said, ‘Sorry about that.’. 

‘No worries.’ Emily was amused by her colleagues’ interactions and felt flattered at the poorly hidden secret that JJ had been saving her a seat for all that time. 

‘I missed you earlier. I mean at our coffee moment.’ JJ said when Emily just finished unpacking her bag. 

‘Well, yeah. I had to have a talk with a student and the principal.’ Emily’s chest swelled with pride, as she had stood her ground and fought for what she believed in. 

‘What happened?’ Penelope leaned forward.

‘A student used a homophobic slur during my lesson. Imagine the fun I had with a parent mansplaining to us that his son would never use such language, even though there were about 25 witnesses.’ The group listened intently as Emily told the story.

‘I hate parents. I swear they get worse every year.’ David remarked without looking up from his stack of papers he was grading. Emily noted that the man worked with an efficiency that she envied. 

‘What did principal Strauss say?’ Penelope asked. 

‘Thankfully, she backed me up and the student has to apologize to the other student.’ Emily explained. 

‘Is that it?’ JJ frowned, clearly unhappy with the lack of punishment, but Emily was not finished with her story. 

‘No, I might have given a, what you may call, strong suggestion.’ She smirked and now all eyes were on her, even Rossi’s. 

‘What did you suggest?’ JJ asked with a mysterious gleam in her eyes. 

‘Oh, you know, a 5 paged essay on the use of sexist, homophobic and racist slurs and how they affect minorities. Due on Monday.’ Emily smiled innocently as the others cheered and Emily had to admit that JJ had been right all along. She hadn’t realized how lonely she had been until that moment, because telling this story to these people had made Emily feel important. Perhaps these people weren’t so bad after all. 

‘I love you already.’ Penelope squealed. 

‘I’d like to read that when it’s finished if you don’t mind of course.’ Spencer said and he went back to working in his notebook.

‘Of course, I’ll make sure to email you a copy.’ Emily said and Spencer thanked her. 

‘I think you will fit right in, Prentiss.’ Rossi said and Emily hoped that she would. 

***  
‘What do you mean pickles are the same as cucumbers?’ JJ yelled at David. The group had worked peacefully for about 40 minutes until a jar of pickles appeared from Spencer’s bag. All hell had broken loose. Emily reckoned it was all right as the school would be closing in about 30 minutes. 

‘Pickles, which refers to the pickling liquid, are in fact cucumbers, JJ.’ Spencer explained as he opened the jar of pickles. 

‘But why are they so small?’ JJ questioned with great urgency. She acted as if her life depended on this. 

‘Honey, they pick these cucumbers earlier, so that they easily fit in jars.’ Penelope explained with an amused expression. Emily noticed that David was shaking his head in disbelief. 

‘It’s all right, JJ. Jack had the same response.’ A new voice said, and Emily saw Aaron standing in the doorway. 

‘Jack is your 7-year-old so- wait a damn minute. When did you get in here?’ JJ went from offended to confused in a split second. Spencer started to munch on a pickle, and he handed one to Penelope who happily accepted one. What had Emily gotten herself into? These people were insane. 

‘I entered the room while you were arguing over pickles.’ Hotch explained, his voice was gentle, but Emily detected a smile on his face. 

‘Oh.’ JJ scratched her head in embarrassment. 

‘Hi, Emily. Nice to see you again.’ Aaron said with a kind smile.

‘You too.’ Emily said. 

‘I’m not staying long, but I just wanted to tell you that –.’ Hotch was interrupted by Penelope who was holding a half-eaten pickle. 

‘However, I think we are forgetting the most important question of all.’ Penelope said and she took a bite from her pickles.

‘Which is?’ David asked her.

‘Spencer, why did you have a jar of pickles in your bag in the first place?’ Penelope asked and everyone turned to stare at Spencer questioningly.

‘I retrieved them from the fridge earlier. It is tasty and healthy.’ Spencer explained as he put the jar of pickles back into his bag. 

‘You’re weird, Spence.’ JJ said as she started, what could only be described as cramming her papers into her bag. 

‘You too, JJ.’ He retorted and the others started packing up their stuff.

‘Anyway, what I was saying before Penelope rudely interrupted me, was that I’ve managed to find a babysitter, so I can come to the bar next Saturday after all.’ Everybody cheered excitedly.

‘Oh, and Emily, you are invited too, of course.’ Hotch added as he addressed her. 

‘I don’t want to impose.’ Emily said awkwardly as all eyes turned to her. 

‘No, we want you there.’ Penelope said as she grabbed Emily’s hands and peered intensely into her eyes. Emily knew that they were all being genuine, but Emily felt she needed some back-up to deal with this crazy group. She had never emphasized with the saying of feeling like a fish out of water, that much in her life before. 

‘Is it all right if I bring a colleague? I think you guys would really like her.’ Emily said and the others started nodding in agreement. 

‘Of course. The more the merrier.’ Rossi said with a smile. 

‘I will text you the details.’ JJ said as she slung her bag over her shoulder, her petite frame barely able to manage the weight of the heavy bag. The others, similarly, each had their own heavy bag and as if they were students, they started to exit the room. 

‘Walk with me to my car.’ Emily suggested to JJ and the woman looked at her curiously. 

‘Sure.’ JJ said and Emily was certain that either no one had noticed or had opted to ignore the interaction between the two women. Emily felt anxious for what she wanted to talk about with JJ, but Emily was resolved about the situation. She had committed to changing and this was part of that change. When the two women were out of hearing range from their colleagues, Emily said, ‘Thank you for walking with me.’

‘Sure. It’s not a problem. What did you want to talk about?’ The two women entered the parking lot and started heading towards JJ’s car. 

‘I wasn’t that stealthy, was I?’ Emily smiled as JJ laughed loudly at her joke. 

‘No, not really.’ JJ shook her head.

‘Well, what I wanted to say was thanks.’ Emily said as she pushed her nerves aside. 

‘For what?’ JJ stopped to look at her. Emily realized that they were standing in the middle of the parking lot, gazing into each other’s eyes, for anyone to see. This mildly embarrassed her, but she forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Talk about her feelings. 

‘Let me explain. After our conversation about teaching and my current struggles with it, I started to think about how I approached our profession. I’ve been thinking about what it means to me and how I can make a difference. And I believe I did make a difference today. Thanks to you. I wouldn’t have dealt with it as well as I had if it hadn’t been for you. You inspire me.’ Emily looked away in embarrassment and as a result of that, she did not anticipate a hug. JJ enveloped Emily in a brief, but amazing embrace. Emily wished it would never end, though unfortunately, it did. 

‘No need to thank me. It’s all you, Emily.’ JJ said softly as she let go of Emily. 

Emily started to lean forward. Her mind was yelling at her to stop, but she could not control herself. For a moment, Emily could swear that JJ leaned forward too, but the moment was interrupted by a car honking loudly. 

The two women jumped apart and saw that David Rossi was in his red sports car. Emily heard JJ curse under her breath at her friend and started to walk towards her car.

‘I guess I will see you next week.’ Emily said sheepishly as she reached her car.

‘Yeah. Have a good one.’ JJ said and the two women waved each other goodbye.   
Emily was glad that Rossi had interrupted them, as this would have been the biggest mistake she could possibly make at that moment. What had gotten to her? Why would she try to kiss one of the only friends that she had in this place? Emily wondered if she had ruined everything and it wasn’t even the autumn break yet. 

‘Great going, Prentiss.’ She muttered to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

The week had come and gone and suddenly the autumn break had started. Joanna was coming over the next day and Emily was nervous yet excited to see her daughter again, but she had to focus. Now she had to deal with a night out with a bunch of crazy teachers. At least she had Alex.

‘Thank you for doing this, Alex.’ Emily was eternally grateful for her friend who smirked at her. Emily appreciated having back up as she hadn’t talked to JJ about the almost kiss JJ and Emily had shared a few days prior. 

‘Oh, this definitely beats another MasterChef Australia rerun. Besides, I’d like to observe you and your beau interact. I wish I had a camera crew with me, as then I would be able to document everything and narrate it David Attenborough style.’ Emily rolled her eyes at her friend. The two women were standing outside some dingy looking bar which caused Emily to feel anxious about this entire thing. Why had she come in the first place?

‘Maybe the cab hasn’t left yet. A MasterChef rerun sounds great, actually.’ Emily said nervously. 

‘Are you getting cold feet, Emily?’ Alex asked with a cheeky smile and Emily decided to demonstrate to her friend that she wasn’t scared. At all. She opened the heavy oak door and the two women entered the bar

‘Wow, the interior does not match the exterior.’ Alex noted and Emily nodded in agreement. The bar was well-decorated and not overly crowded. A soft Jazz melody played in the background. Emily spotted JJ at the bar chatting with the bartender. She was wearing dark jeans with a loose-fitting blouse. 

‘Stop staring at her ass.’ Alex said, but before Emily could deny such false accusations, Alex was already making her way towards the rowdy-looking group in the middle of the bar. Emily decided the best course of action was pretending that it never happened, and she followed Alex. Everyone halted their animated conversations and stared at the two women expectantly. 

‘Hi guys! I’d like to introduce you to Alex Blake if you don’t know her already.’ Emily said and Alex waved to everyone as they all called out their names. Once they had finished Alex said ‘I have already forgotten all of your names. I do apologize!’ and the others laughed. Alex then sat down next to Spencer and the two hit it off instantly as they immediately struck up a conversation. It was about something involving linguistics and Emily was pretty sure that she heard Sapir-Whorf theory being name dropped within the first 30 seconds of their conversation. Emily opted to sit down next to Derek and Penelope who scooted away from each other to make space for her. The three of them struck up a casual conversation about their respective classes until JJ arrived back at the table. She was carrying a tray of drinks and distributed them with such efficiency that Emily wondered whether she had worked as a waitress in the past. 

‘Hey, JJ. I envy your skill. I’d already have dropped everything after one step.’ Emily said with a smile.

‘Hi, Emily and… Alex, right?’ Alex looked up from her conversation with Spencer and greeted JJ ‘Hi, yes! Nice to meet you JJ.’. JJ continued ‘Well, it’s one of my many talents. I didn’t get you guys any drinks. So, what can I get you?’. The others clinked their glasses, and all took a sip from their drinks. 

Derek commented ‘Don’t try to be mysterious, JJ.’ He turned to Emily and said, ‘She was a waitress for a few years, and she likes to show off.’ Penelope nodded and JJ rolled her eyes and ignored them. 

‘A beer, please.’ Alex said and Emily added ‘I don’t know JJ. What do you think I should have?’ Emily’s heart almost stopped beating all together when she saw the wicked grin JJ gave her. 

‘One beer and a mystery drink coming right up.’ JJ winked and returned to the bar. Emily didn’t notice she was too occupied by the JJ to notice the all-knowing stares of Derek and Penelope. 

A few minutes later JJ returned with an orange-looking cocktail and a beer. She handed the beer and sat down across Emily who was eyeing the cocktail with great suspicion. Before Emily could ask, JJ already explained, ‘It’s called Blood and Sand. It contains scotch, sweet vermouth, Cherry Heering, and orange juice. It’s based on a movie of the same name. I hope you like it!’. Penelope interjected ‘JJ that sounds awesome. I need one too.’ JJ nodded and said ‘After you finish your Sex on the Beach, I’ll order one for you. Come on Emily try it!’. 

Emily took a sip of the drink, it was rather sweet but tasty. After two or three sips she said ‘This is great thank you. How did you know I’d like it?’. Emily asked. 

‘I used to be a bartender and you learn to guess what people like.’ JJ said with a shrug. 

‘Well, you nailed it. I love it.’ Emily said and JJ responded with a smile. Emily ignored the look that Alex was giving her from the other side of the table.

***   
An hour had passed, and the group had started to get a bit rowdier. Emily was on her fourth Blood and Sand at that point and Emily had lost count of the amount of white wine JJ had consumed. Kate, Elle, Penelope, and Derek were dancing, even though this was definitely not a dancing type of bar. The four dancers in question did not seem phased by this, however. 

Hotch and David were huddled together and deep in conversation, both drinking expensive-looking whiskies. Emily noticed that Alex and Spencer were still completely wrapped up in their conversation. Once they had started talking, they hadn’t stopped. JJ noticed Emily staring and said, ‘Match made in heaven, I guess.’ Emily nodded in agreement.

‘No kidding. They are practically soulmates.’ Emily said. At the bar, she noticed a man intently staring at her and she quickly looked away. 

‘I’m glad you brought Alex. Spencer doesn’t have a lot of friends and I worry about him sometimes.’ JJ said, oblivious to the man staring at the two of them. 

‘Yeah, I’m glad too.’ Emily agreed. 

‘You guys fit right in with us.’

‘Ha, you guys are insane. It amazes how close you all are. I’ve never seen anything quite like this dynamic.’

‘We are family.’ JJ seemed as if she was about to say more, but Emily realized that she was staring at something that was behind Emily. Emily turned around to see the man from the bar standing behind her.

‘Sorry to interrupt ladies.’ The man said with a charming smile. Emily was already annoyed that the man had ruined their moment, but she was even more annoyed by the fact that he only stared at her.

‘Already forgiven.’ JJ said with a wink. Emily tried to ignore the flare of jealousy she felt.

‘What can we do for you?’ Emily asked and she noticed that everyone was intently observing this interaction. All of them were also within hearing range, much to Emily’s annoyance. 

‘My name is Mark. I was just wondering if you’d like to have a drink with me.’ The realization hit Emily right then. The man, Mark, was only making eye contact with her. He wasn’t interested in JJ in the slightest. Though, JJ did not seem to mind as she watched them with a bemused smile, having come to the same conclusion as Emily. 

‘Well, thank you for your offer, Mark. Unfortunately, I don’t see our relationship going anywhere.’ Emily felt nervous about having to do this, as men could react in strange ways to this type of information, but she felt safe enough with all her colleagues around her. 

‘Why not?’ Mark asked with a slight frown on his face. 

‘First of all, I find it rude that you interrupted us and second of all I’m not interested.’ JJ watched the interaction, much like the others, with great interest. 

‘Why not?’ Mark asked again. This time he seemed almost frustrated by his incomprehension. Emily saw from the corner of her eye that Derek had started creeping closer and she felt touched by his concern. 

‘I don’t have to explain myself, but I’ll make it clear to you. You are not my type.’ Emily explained and she took another sip from her drink, giving the man a moment to think her statement over. 

‘You don’t even know me. What’s your type then?’ Emily had hoped that he would have figured it out by now, but sadly she had to spell it out for him apparently.

‘Well, I’m interested in people of the women variety.’ Emily deadpanned and Mark’s mouth was agape in the sudden realization. Emily avoided eye contact with JJ and stared at Mark.

‘Oh.’ Mark said. 

‘Yeah.’ Emily nodded and patted his arm. 

‘Well, what about your friend?’ Mark turned to JJ who did a double-take in surprise. 

‘Don’t even try it, Mark.’ JJ said with the fakest looking smile and Mark sighed and just walked away without another word. Emily shook her head, disbelieving that this entire interaction had actually happened. 

‘Wow.’ 

‘You can definitely say that.’

‘The fact that he tried to hit on me after…’ 

‘Men.’ Emily sighed and Derek joined the table and asked, ‘Everything all right ladies?’. The two women both cast one look at Derek’s concerned expression and burst out in laughter. The man frowned in confusion and commented, ‘Everything is fine, then?’ which resulted in the women laughing even harder at the poor confused man.

***   
‘You’re into women.’ JJ stated when Derek had left, and both women had stopped hysterically laughing. Emily was hit by doubt. Had she done the right thing? Had her guesses of JJ being sexually fluid been wrong? Emily had no choice but to go with it as the cat was already out of the bag. 

‘I’m as straight as a curve.’ Emily explained and JJ smiled. 

‘Okay.’ JJ said and Emily freaked out because JJ didn’t say anything else. She had been wrong and now she had made a fool of herself. 

‘Wait, you don’t have a problem with that, do you?’

‘Oh no! I’m bi myself.’ JJ said. 

‘Oh, nice.’ Emily couldn’t help but be excited about the news that JJ was bisexual. She knew that they could never have any type of romantic relationship, but the irrational part of herself was already thinking about making out with JJ. Emily was startled out of her fantasies by JJ who explained, ‘Yeah, you are actually surrounded by a lot of queer folks. Elle is a lesbian, Garcia is pansexual, and Derek is bisexual, as well.’. 

‘Wow.’ Emily said. 

Emily now realized that she hadn’t made up the moment she had had with JJ the week prior. Her instincts were telling her to move closer to JJ and to create a more intimate moment. She did the opposite, however, Emily visibly leaned away from JJ. She could not deal with another relationship; she had made a promise to herself. No relationships with colleagues ever again. 

Emily realized that JJ had noticed that Emily had rejected the moment of intimacy and for a tenth of a second Emily detected hurt in JJ’s expression. The atmosphere between the two women had suddenly become awkward, but before either of them could do something about it, Kate, who was obviously tipsy, had shown up at the table, wrapping her arms around their shoulders and pulling them closer together to her. 

‘Ladies, we need more dancers and I happen to know both of you haven’t danced yet.’ Kate said as she grabbed their hands and dragged them to the so-called dance floor. Everyone was dancing, except Dave and Hotch, who were watching them, and Emily noticed that Dave was recording Spencer’s misguided attempts at dancing with Alex. She smirked at the thought of all that blackmail materials as she made her way to the two of them.

‘Having fun?’ Emily asked Alex and Spencer. The two were in the middle of this strange dance, which Emily guessed was some type of ancient Russian dance, but she didn’t feel like asking about it. Because that would probably result in a 40-minute lecture on the development of Russian dance and music of the 20th century and Emily was way too drunk to deal with that. Emily was handed three tequila shots by Derek and she saw that JJ was on what must have been her sixth shot. She took the shots and cringed at the taste. 

‘Yeah. The music doesn’t fit the dance, but Boy Wonder is trying to teach me and who cares.’ Alex explained as she mimicked Spencer’s interesting moves. 

‘Actually, the beat of this song is quite similar to –.’ Emily never heard the end of the sentence as she was pulled away by one very drunk JJ who whispered in her ear ‘Come dance with me, Emily.’ 

With that voice, JJ could have proposed anything to Emily and she would have gladly done it. Feelings or promises be damned. Kiss? No problem. Quit her job? Why not! Rob a bank? Gladly. Murder? Already done! Because that voice and the twinkle in JJ’s eyes made Emily go weak and she wasn’t sure whether it was her feelings or the alcohol speaking. The devil may know. The two women danced until they were the last ones standing and then when she got home that evening, it hit Emily.

She was in love with JJ.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you are enjoying the fic!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not uploading last week! I do hope you are still enjoying my fic :)
> 
> It is time for Emily to reveal some secrets!
> 
> Happy reading!

‘Ouch.’ Everything hurt. Emily immediately recalled the reason she had quit drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. Her head felt like a brick and the person pounding on the front door ought to serve time in jail for this crime. ‘This should be considered a war crime.’ Emily muttered as she got out of bed and stumbled to the front door. She only realized she was wearing a see-through shirt and her panties when she had already opened the door to an inhumanly excited JJ. 

‘Good morning sunshine. I brought breakfast.’ JJ let herself in and headed towards the kitchen.

‘Hi, JJ. That’s nice of you, but why did you bring so much food and coffee?’ Emily was almost afraid to ask because there were implications to there being at least 5 coffees. Before JJ could respond Penelope, Elle, Kate, and Alex entered the apartment in varying hungover states. Penelope barely looked conscious. Each of the ladies politely greeted Emily as they eyed her attire as they made their way to the kitchen.

‘What the hell is happening?’ Emily asked as she trailed after the women.

‘Oh my god. She doesn’t remember.’ Elle said and the other women shared a look of amusement. 

‘Don’t you remember that you invited all of us over for brunch?’ Kate asked obviously knowing the answer. Then Emily noticed Alex pointing at her shirt and Emily realized her mistake. Again.

‘Sure…wait a second. Did you just say brunch?’ Emily’s brain was definitely not ready to deal 

‘Yeah, it’s noon.’ Alex said with a wink. 

‘Okay. Give me a minute.’ Emily entered her messy bedroom and attempted to make herself appear human and considerably less naked with all the energy she could muster. Which was not a lot. 

Satisfied with a casual outfit and cleanly brushed teeth Emily returned to the kitchen, where JJ had prepared an immaculate breakfast. Kate saw her eyeing the breakfast and commented ‘The only thing missing in this champagne breakfast is the champagne.’ The comment did not have the intended effect as Emily had to fight the urge to vomit at the mention of alcohol. Penelope, who groaned at the mention of champagne, nodded at Emily in solidarity.

‘It looks great. Shall we start?’ Emily sat down across JJ and was sandwiched between Alex and Elle. 

‘Thank you for inviting all of us. This was a great idea.’ Elle said to Emily as she put a croissant on her plate. The others thanked her as well and they started stockpiling their plates with food. Emily accepted the coffee JJ handed to her and took a sip. 

‘I don’t remember the actual inviting, but I’m glad you are all here.’

‘Oh wow! I didn’t realize you were that wasted last night.’ JJ exclaimed and Emily tried to think back to the previous night. The last thing she remembered was Spencer’s interesting dance moves, dancing with JJ, and the fact that she realized she was in love with JJ. Emily froze mid-sip, but nobody seemed to notice her inner crisis. Emily realized that she had to continue the banter, otherwise the women at the table would definitely catch on. 

‘It’s fine. I got a great breakfast out of it. So, no complaints from me.’ Emily said and smiled weakly. 

‘Well, what’s the last thing you remember?’ Penelope asked, already seeming more alive after she had consumed some tea and donuts. 

‘I remember Spencer’s dancing and dancing with you guys.’ Emily explained feeling rather nervous because she didn’t know how much she was missing. She did not remember getting home. 

‘Oh.’ JJ uttered and the women looked at each other in shock. 

‘That was like 2 hours before we left.’ JJ explained and Emily put her coffee down and stared at her colleagues in shock.

‘Oh.’ Emily said softly. There was a brief pause and Emily asked, ‘So, did something interesting happen in those last two hours?’. 

‘Well, you missed out on Derek vomiting on the curb and Hotch and Dave waltzing. They tried to teach JJ how to waltz but failed horribly. Everyone was really drunk honestly.’ Penelope explained as she took a bite from the monstrosity that was a cronut. 

‘I wish I remembered that.’ Emily noticed that JJ’s light demeanor had changed, and she was focused on tearing pieces of her croissant. She felt that something else had happened and she intended to figure it out.

‘How did I even get home?’ Emily asked.

‘We took a taxi. I put you to bed and then I went home myself.’ JJ explained, appearing to be somewhat shy, which was very unlike her.

‘Guys, next time you can’t allow me to drink that much. I feel like a college student again.’ Emily groaned as she probably embarrassed herself in front of JJ. 

‘Promise, but we were all having such a good time.’ Kate said and Alex nodded.

‘True, it’s been a while.’ Emily said with a smile. 

A little while later the women had finished the delicious breakfast and were enjoying the tea Emily had made for everyone. There was a casual vibe, and everyone was chitchatting about random topics, until Elle turned to Emily and said, ‘I actually wanted to ask you something, Emily.’. The table quieted and everyone observed them with interest. Emily realized that most of them had been wondering about the same thing, but no one had dared to ask. This daunted her somewhat. What would they actually want to know about her? What could be so interesting?

‘Sure, go ahead.’ Emily tried to appear casual, but her heart was beating loudly in her chest.

‘Where are you actually from?’ Elle asked and Emily tried not to sigh in relief. She had expected something much worse, but this she could deal with.

‘DC. I grew up all over the place, though.’ Then it hit her, and Elle asked the question Emily had been dreading. 

‘Why did you move all the way here?’ Elle asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. 

‘It’s a bit complicated,’ Emily paused ‘but I left DC because of my ex-wife.’ There it was out. 

‘Ouch.’ Elle cringed. 

‘Yeah.’ Emily agreed.

‘If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?’ Emily knew that Elle didn’t mean any harm, but her gut instinct was to tell her to shut up and mind her own business. She was about to do exactly that until she caught JJ staring at her. Emily sighed; she had committed to being more open. The new and improved Emily. 

‘Well, Amy cheated on me.’ For a moment nobody said a word as everyone processed the bombshell. 

‘Oh, Emily.’ JJ started, but Emily cut her off, ‘It’s all right. Things hadn’t been all right for a while and I’m not free of the blame either.’ JJ obviously wanted to object some more, but Emily shook her head.

‘That’s ridiculous! She cheated on you.’ Penelope said as she clung to her tea. 

‘Yes, and I hadn’t been the best partner for a long time. It was going to end either way, and this is how it happened.’ Emily explained, trying to ignore JJ’s piercing stare, but failing at that. The other women, except Alex who gave Emily a questioning look, didn’t seem to notice this intense interaction between the two women. 

‘How long were you guys together?’ Kate asked. 

‘About 10 years.’ Emily tried her best to sound nonchalant, but she could tell from her friends’ shocked faces that she hadn’t downplayed it successfully. 

‘Oh shit.’ Elle exclaimed.

‘You could say that.’ Emily said with an awkward smile. She hated being the topic of conversation and she wanted it to end, unfortunately, she did not see a way out.

‘We have been separated for about 6 months, but it feels much longer than that. I think we hadn’t been a couple for much longer than that.’ Emily explained as she had to get through it. 

‘Well, it still sucks, but it’s for the better, right?’ Kate patted her hand sympathetically. Emily decided it was time to rip the band-aid off and to reveal all her well-kept secrets, as she had been concealing so much from them. 

‘That’s for sure. I miss mostly miss my daughter.’ The women all did a double-take in surprise. 

‘You have a daughter?’ JJ all but yelled at Emily who nodded. 

‘Yeah. I forgot to mention that.’ 

‘You are full of secrets, Emily Prentiss.’ Penelope was shaking her head in disbelief. 

‘That, I am. Apparently.’

‘What’s her name?’ Alex inquired. Even though Alex was already much closer to Emily than the other women, she still had not revealed too many personal details about herself either.

‘Joanna. She’s actually coming over tonight. I’m picking her up at the airport at 9.’ Emily smiled. 

‘Such a beautiful name. I’ve got a teenager called Molly.’ Kate added.

‘Oh, I’m not ready for that stage. 9-year-olds are already tough enough as is.’ Emily shuddered at the thought of having to deal with a teenager, but she’d still rather have that than being so far away from Joanna. 

‘True that.’ Kate said in agreement. Emily noticed that JJ had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they had embarked on this topic. The woman almost looked downtrodden. Emily didn’t miss that, but the others did as they were still focused on her. The woman continued questioning her about Joanna, so Emily decided not to say anything about JJ’s silence. For now.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some content warnings for this chapter. See the notes at the end of the chapter for more information!
> 
> I hope you are enjoying the fic :)

Two hours later everyone but JJ, who had insisted on helping to clean, had left Emily’s apartment. The two women were cleaning the kitchen, JJ was doing the dishes, and Emily drying them, in comfortable silence. The old radio was playing some 70s tunes from a CD that Emily had bought at goodwill in her first week there. Emily wasn’t as content with the peace as she should have been, as the little voice in her head kept nagging at her. A lot had happened in the last few hours and her brain was only now starting to process it. 

‘I didn’t know you had a daughter.’ JJ said breaking the silence when she finished the last cup. JJ started to clean the counters and for a split-second, Emily wondered if JJ had actually said anything. Emily put the last cup away and wondered what to say as she started brewing a pot of coffee. The room filled with the coffee aroma and JJ sat down at the barstool at the counter, looking expectantly at her friend. 

‘Yeah. I guess it never came up.’ Emily said softly as she put five scoops of ground coffee into the filter. Once she had put in a sufficient amount of water and the machine started puttering, she sat down on a barstool across JJ. 

‘It’s a pretty big thing to forget to mention. It’s all right though, I’m not entitled to all your personal details in your life.’ JJ sounded somewhat exasperated and Emily had no idea how to get out of this situation without hurting JJ’s feelings. It was like walking on eggshells.

‘But you are, you know?’

‘I just feel you have been dropping bombshell after bombshell in the last 24 hours. I mean I didn’t even know you were gay and now I find out you have an ex-wife and a daughter! I’ve known you for almost two months now. I thought we were friends.’ JJ almost whispered the last part. Emily hadn’t realized that she’d hurt JJ so much by concealing the truth. Emily had supposed that she had been open enough to her new colleagues and friends, but apparently it had been too little too late. Emily watched the black liquid drop one by one into the pot, avoiding JJ’s piercing gaze, as she wondered what to say. 

‘You are completely right. I’m a naturally reserved person and I’m working on this. I didn’t intend to conceal personal information about myself, but it is what I do. Always have done. This flaw in my person actually resulted in many fights, if not the actual dissolving of my marriage to Amy.’ When Emily finally stopped speaking, she tore her gaze away from the coffee machine and looked at JJ who seemed to be more relaxed. 

‘Well, if you are trying to be more open, then you have definitely succeeded in the last 24 hours.’ JJ said with a smile.

‘Yeah and I’m hating every second of it.’ Emily said honestly. 

‘I’m sorry for overreacting.’ JJ said with an embarrassed smile. The coffee machine finished brewing and she poured herself a cup of steaming hot coffee and looked expectantly at JJ.

‘You didn’t. I’m sorry for not communicating. Coffee?’ Emily held out the coffee pot, which had now filled the room with a pleasant aroma. 

‘Please. It smells divine.’ Emily poured coffee in the second mug and handed it to JJ, who eagerly accepted it and proceeded to desecrate the coffee by putting at least 4 spoonful’s of sugar and half a liter of cream into it. Emily watched in horror at JJ. 

‘How can you drink that?’

‘It’s delicious. This is the only way to make coffee bearable.’

‘Weirdo.’

‘You love it.’ JJ winked at Emily flirtatiously, but Emily could only cringe as the other woman started to drink her demonic concoction. She genuinely hoped that JJ had a great dental plan, because Emily was certain that she was already getting cavities herself by looking at JJ drink that coffee. The two fell into a comfortable silence again. 

Was it time? Emily wondered. Emily decided that there was nothing like the present, especially as they had tackled some tough subjects already, and asked the question she had been meaning to ask. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she hoped that JJ wouldn’t be mortally offended. 

‘Hey Jennifer, I want to ask you something. If it’s too personal, then I completely understand.’ Emily started. 

‘It must be serious as you are calling me Jennifer, but sure. What’s up?’ JJ frowned and she put her cup of coffee down. 

‘Again, I want to reiterate that you don’t have to answer. We were talking about Joanna and earlier and I noticed you looked…sad, which made me wonder. Have you lost a child or are you unable to have children?’ Silence. A whole series of emotions appeared, and disappeared, on JJ’s face and the woman remained quiet for a moment. Emily immediately regretted asking the question, seeing how it had upset JJ. Before she could apologize, JJ started talking.

‘The answer to your question is yes. Remember how I had a boyfriend, Will, but we broke up? I didn’t tell you the whole truth, well I told you the truth, but I left some vital parts out. I was pregnant. 5 months in and I was over the moon. Then one evening, I was in a car accident. The doctors tried their best, but I lost the baby.’ JJ explained in a monotone voice. Emily wanted to do or say something to ease JJ’s pain, but JJ sensed that Emily was about to interrupt and said, ‘Please, let me finish.’ JJ sighed and continued, ‘Because I won’t be able to if you interrupt me.’

‘Okay.’

‘Will and I were heartbroken because we had been trying for a long time. I was all right physically, but I wasn’t mentally. I only took three days off work. Will did truly love me, but losing the child broke our relationship. Especially when I found out that I couldn’t have any children anymore. We went through the motions for several months after the accident, but you know how it ended.’ JJ’s voice was a bit shaken and she took a sip of her coffee. 

‘When Will and I broke up he told me to go to therapy. At first, I was angry, but it was the best advice I had ever received. It took a boatload of therapy for me to realize how all of this had affected me. And that’s when I started to heal. Really heal for the first time.’ Emily stared in awe at this beautiful, strong woman in front of her, but then saw the hints of the first tears in JJ’s eyes and rushed to her. JJ leaned on Emily’s shoulder, and Emily felt the occasional hot tear fall on her shirt.

‘I’m so sorry, Jennifer. Nobody should have to go through that.’ Emily whispered. 

‘It’s been a few years, somehow I thought it’d get easier telling the story.’ JJ said.

‘I’m sorry for upsetting you.’ JJ sat up and looked at Emily directly into her eyes. Emily realized, no matter how inappropriate the situation was, that their faces were mere centimeters apart and Emily wanted to kiss her. 

‘No! I wanted to tell you, otherwise, I wouldn’t have told you. How did you know anyway?’ JJ explained with a determination that convinced Emily of her sincerity right away. 

‘When I was talking about Joanna, I saw you flinch, and Penelope not-so-subtly touched your hand in support.’ Emily explained. 

‘Wow. You are rather observant. You should have become a spy or an FBI agent.’ JJ said with her trademark flirty wink and Emily could swear that JJ’s eyes darted to Emily’s lips for a second. 

‘I really don’t like guns, so that’s a no from me.’ Emily leaned back and saw the disappointment in JJ’s eyes. She wouldn’t go through this again and the only reason that JJ was showing interest in her was that she was feeling vulnerable Emily reasoned to herself. 

‘Thank you for listening.’ JJ said softly. 

‘Thank you for sharing.’ Emily responded.

Emily wondered if she should address the other thing on her mind, but she opted not to, as this casual clean-up had already been too emotionally draining for both of them. Yet the question still lingered on her mind. What had happened the night before that Emily didn’t remember?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings:  
> \- Miscarriage  
> \- Inability to have children as a result of an accident.


End file.
